For those who love the taste of traditional Greek or Middle Eastern stuffed grape leaves this recipe offers an easy way to enjoy the same bright savory Mediterranean flavor medley in the form of a whole food plant-based oil-free optional side dish.
WHO NEEDS TO TRY THIS PILAF?
This recipe was designed to satisfy the cravings of people whose love for Mediterranean and Middle Eastern food runs deep, but who are committed to an oil-free whole food plant-based (WFPB) lifestyle. Like most of my recipes, it was designed for people like me. But anyone who loves dolmades (Greek for stuffed grape leaves) will enjoy this recipe. This pilaf is not only faster and easier to make than homemade stuffed grape leaves, it transforms the flavors of an appetizer into a versatile hearty side dish. If cooking with oil is not something that you’re interested in or willing to give up at this point, that’s ok. You can skip my oil-free broth sauté method and use olive oil instead. There’s one thing I know for sure, if you already like dolmades, you’re sure to enjoy this pilaf.
LEAFY GREEN GRAPE LEAVES
Grape leaves aren’t just edible wrappers, they’re a nourishing leafy green vegetable in their own right. Extremely low in calories and packed with fiber, grape leaves are a great source of vitamins A, K, C, E and B6. They’re also a fairly good source of iron. Packing and fermenting grape leaves in brine does slightly diminish their formidable nutrient density, but those nutrients are still mostly there. And although the produce aisle is my second home, occasionally getting my leafy greens from a shelf-stable jar is convenient.
WHY BROWN BASMATI?
As someone who’s mostly whole food plant-based (WFPB) adherent when cooking at home, I avoid processed grains as much as possible. That means white rice is out. Of all the types of brown rice I’ve tried, brown basmati is my favorite rice to use when I want a light fluffy pilaf with a texture that’s similar to white long grain rice. The flavor is delicately nutty in a way that doesn’t overpower other ingredients. Perhaps best of all, brown basmati cooks more quickly than most other types of brown rice especially when it’s pre-soaked for at least 30 minutes. Brown basmati is the only type of rice I’ve tried for this recipe. The cooking times and the quantity of water specified probably won’t apply to other kinds of rice. But if you’re a confident cook, feel free to adjust the recipe to whatever rice you want to use.
SHALLOTS AND ALTERNATIVES
Shallots are one of my favorite alliums. I love their mild, slightly sweet taste and the fact that they’re a little garlicky. Feel free to use yellow, white or even red onions in this recipe if that’s what you prefer or all you have.
PREPPING GRAPE LEAVES
For this recipe I used grape leaves that are packed in salt brine because that’s what’s most widely available where I live. Although it’s impossible to remove all the salt from the grape leaves, I still like giving them a good rinse before using them. I’d rather add salt to the dish as necessary at the end according to taste than have it be overwhelmed by the saltiness of the grape leaves before I get a chance to taste it. When chopping the grape leaves, the first thing you need to do is to cut away hard stems. Then roughly chop the leaves into pieces that will be manageable when picked up with a fork.
NUTS FOR RICHNESS
Being whole food plant-based with no oil (WFPB-NO) is not the same as being fat-free. WFPB-NO adherent folk simply get our fats from whole plant foods instead of getting them from heavily processed, highly refined, ingredients like cooking oils or vegan butters. I include toasted pine nuts, or alternatively slivered almonds, in this pilaf to slightly boost the fat content without oil while staying within the Middle Eastern/ Mediterranean spirit of the dish. Adding one of these nuts makes this dish richer and tastier. Also, the fat in the nuts helps our bodies better absorb some of the other nutrients in the pilaf. If you are allergic to tree nuts, you can use pumpkin or sunflower seeds instead.
A POLARIZING CAPER OPTION
I think capers make this pilaf more interesting. To my tastebuds, they’re always a lovely pairing with lemon, parsley and dill. I like to lightly toast them with the pine nuts or almonds to make them less squishy and spread their tangy flavor onto the nuts. But capers are not absolutely necessary in this pilaf and I know that some people despise them. If that’s you, but you’ve read this far, well I’m just glad I didn’t lose you at the mere mention of capers.
HERBAL MEDLEY
Fresh herbs are awesome in this recipe and they’re particularly advantageous because the leafy green being used is brine packed instead of fresh. But if you can’t source any of the fresh herb ingredients listed, feel free to substitute with dry herbs. As a rule of thumb, use one third the amount when using a dry herb as a substitute for a fresh herb. Since I’ve listed the quantities in tablespoons and there are three teaspoons in a tablespoon, the math is easy. For every tablespoon of a fresh herb, use one teaspoon of dry. If you’d like to use a different combination of herbs that’s fine too. Oregano and thyme would be very nice in this recipe. The only herbs I would strongly recommend against are basil and rosemary because I don’t think the flavors would work for this dish.
TIME MANAGEMENT FOR THIS RECIPE
Brown basmati benefits greatly from a 30 minute soak and soaking it up to an hour is also fine. The best way to power through this recipe is to start soaking the rice before you even begin to gather up the other ingredients for chopping. Since the fresh herbs, lemon juice, nuts and capers go in last, you’ll have plenty of time to prep them while the rice is simmering.
OIL-FREE SAUTÉING IS OPTIONAL
If you want to use oil to sauté the vegetables instead of the oil free sauté method, go right ahead. You can use a couple of tablespoons of olive oil instead of the broth to begin sautéing the shallots, but you may still want to use a little bit of broth or water if they start to stick as you go along.
EASY OIL-FREE SAUTÉ METHOD
Because my blog focuses on whole food plant-based adherent recipes, I avoid highly processed calorie-dense ingredients like oil as much as possible. Oil-free sautéing is a great way to cut back on the amount of oil in your life and it’s surprisingly easy, economical, and starts feeling like second nature once you get used to it.
In this recipe, the chopped shallots are sautéd first in order to develop a layer of caramelized flavor before adding the grape leaves which require minimal cooking. Begin by heating about two tablespoons of vegetable broth in a medium to large pot or deep skillet over high heat. Keep more vegetable broth close at hand to use as needed. When the broth comes to a rolling boil, reduce heat to medium and add the chopped shallots. Sauté for about eight minutes until the shallots are soft and slightly golden, adding little bits of broth as needed to prevent sticking. Then add the chopped grape leaves along with the black pepper and sauté for another three minutes, continuing to add small amounts of broth whenever you notice things starting to stick to the bottom of the pot or skillet. Finally stir in the strained rice and sauté for another minute before covering with water.
SIMMERING PHASE
Here’s where the pace slows down and you’ll have time to chop your herbs and prepare the nuts and capers (if using). First you bring the water covered contents of the pot or skillet to boil, then you bring down the heat to low, cover the pot or skillet with a vented lid and simmer for 25 minutes. A vented lid is one of those lids with a little hole to let enough steam through so that everything doesn’t boil over. If you don’t have that kind of lid, I recommend leaving a little gap at the side of the lid so a little steam can get out. After 25 if the rice looks fully cooked and all the water’s been absorbed, you move onto the next stage. If there’s still a little water left but the rice is fully cooked, turn off the heat and leave the pot uncovered for a while. If the rice is not fully cooked, keep the pot covered and cook for another 5 minutes. Add more water if you need to cook the rice longer and all the water has already been absorbed.
INCORPORATING REMAINING INGREDIENTS
Once the rice, grape leaves and shallots have cooked and any extra water has evaporated or been absorbed, it’s time to add the finishing touches to the pilaf. The order in which you add the final ingredients doesn’t matter. What’s important is that these ingredients be added at the end. Lemon juice is almost always added after the cooking stage because prologued heat can make it bitter. The toasted nuts and capers (if using) are added last so they don’t keep their shape and density. Fresh herbs are added at the end in order to maximize their color and flavor impact. If you’re using dried herbs instead of fresh you could technically add them in earlier but for the purposes of this recipe it doesn’t really matter.
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Grape Leaf Brown Rice Pilaf WFPB Oil-Free Optional
Equipment
- Medium mixing bowl (for soaking rice)
- Mesh Strainer (for rinsing and straining rice and grape leaves)
- large deep skillet or medium cooking pot with lid (a lid with a steam vent is best)
- separate skillet or frying pan for browning nuts (any size)
Ingredients
- 1½ cup brown basmati rice
- ½ cup vegetable broth for oil-free sautéing (substitute with 2 Tbsp cooking oil if preferred)
- 1 cup chopped shallots (or sub with onions)
- 1 cup brined grape leaves, rinsed and roughly chopped
- ¼ tsp ground black pepper
- 3 cups water
- 3 Tbsp pine nuts or raw slivered almonds (raw sliced almonds are also fine)
- 2 Tbsp capers (optional)
- juice of one medium to large lemon (about 3 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice or more to taste)
- 2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley leaves* (or sub with 2 tsp dry parsley)
- 2 Tbsp chopped fresh mint leaves* (or sub with 2 tsp dried mint leaves)
- 2 Tbsp chopped fresh dill* (or sub with 2 tsp dried dill)
- lemon wedges for garnish (optional)
Instructions
Rinse and Soak Rice
- Perform this step before measuring and prepping any of the other ingredients.
- Place brown basmati rice in a medium size mixing bowl, cover with cold water, and gently swirl with your hand or a spoon. Drain the cloudy water and repeat a couple of times until the water is mostly clear.
- Place rinsed water back in the bowl, cover it with fresh water and set aside for 30 minutes or up to an hour then strain.
Prepare Grape Leaves
- Separate grape leaves and rinse them under cold running water to remove some of the salt brine. You can use a strainer or colander for this if you like or you can simply hold one leaf a time under water.
- Use a strainer or colander to shake off excess water or pat them dry with a clean towel.
- Cut off the thick stems from the bottom of the leaves and discard them.
- Roughly chop leaves before measuring one cup. If you've cut up too many leaves you can put them back in the jar or place them in a sealed zip lock container and save them for future use.
Prepare Shallots
- Chop shallots into small pieces. The size doesn't need to be exact but I usually go for approximately ½ to ¼ inch pieces (1 x ½ cm).
- Shallots in size so chop and measure them as you go along until you get one cup.
Sautéing
- Strain the soaked rice before beginning the sauté process.
- Options (1) Oil-Free Sauté Method: For oil-free sautéing pour 2 tablespoons of vegetable broth into a deep skillet or medium to large pot and bring to a rolling boil over high heat, keeping more broth close at hand. Add sliced diced shallots to the skillet or pot, lower heat to medium, and sauté until shallots become golden and soft (about 8 minutes), adding no more than a couple of teaspoons of broth at a time, as needed, to keep shallots from burning and/or sticking.
- Option (2) Oil Sauté Method: If you are sautéing with oil, begin by heating 2 tablespoons of oil. Add the shallots, lower heat to medium sauté until shallots become golden and soft, about 8 minutes. Add small amounts of water or broth if shallots are sticking.
- Once shallots become soft and golden add the black pepper and chopped grape leaves and sauté for another 3 minutes, adding small amounts of liquid (no more than 2 teaspoons at a time) as needed to prevent sticking.
- Using a fine mesh strainer, quickly strain the rice that's been soaking and add it to the grape leaves and shallots. Sauté rice, shallots and grape leaves for one more minute.
Simmering Phase
- Add 3 cups of water to the rice, shallots and grape leaves in the pot or skillet and bring to a boil.
- Reduce heat to low and cover the pot or skillet with a lid.
- Simmer for 20 to 30 until rice is tender but not mushy and all the water is absorbed.
Toast Pine Nuts or Almonds (along with capers if using)
- Place a skillet or frying pan over medium-low heat.
- Add pine nuts (or slivered almonds) and strained capers (if using) and stir frequently for about 3 to 4 minutes until the nuts start to get brown and toasty.
- Immediately remove the nuts and capers (if using) from the pan, placing them in a small bowl. Set aside.
Final Steps
- Add the toasted nuts (with capers if using), herbs and lemon juice to the cooked rice, shallots and grape leaves in the skillet or pot and toss together until all ingredients are evenly distributed.
- Taste test the pilaf and decide if you want to add salt or more black pepper or lemon juice if you have any. Serving the pilaf with extra lemon wedges is also a good option.
Serve or Store
- This pilaf makes 4 generous servings as a side dish.
- Serve it piping hot or let it cool down and store in a refrigerated sealed container for up to 5 days and reheat before serving.
Reheating Pilaf
- Reheat Pilaf in a Microwave: Place the pilaf in a microwave-safe bowl and break up any large chunks. Sprinkle a splash of water over the rice. Cover the bowl with a microwave-safe lid or a damp paper towel. Microwave on high in 30-second increments, stirring in between, until steaming hot
- Reheat Pilaf in an Oven:
- Preheat your conventional oven to 300°F (150 ℃)
- Place pilaf in an oven-safe casserole or baking dish.
- Sprinkle lightly water, and cover tightly with aluminum foil.
- Bake for 15 to 20 minutes until hot throughout.
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